Leadership Development Manager - Patrick Seigler

Patrick Seigler
(360) 407-8429

Patrick Seigler is the Leadership Development Manager for the Department of Enterprise Services. He is the former Director of the Employment Security Department's Training Academy. Pat also worked as the Human Resource and Strategic Development Manager for the Economic Services Administration (ESA) of DSHS. He is a former faculty member at Pacific Lutheran University and taught at the University of Alabama and Stillman College.

Prior to working for the State, Patrick worked in the medical technology field traveling throughout the country implementing cutting-edge training programs. He won a national award in 1999 for web service development. Pat has been a certified 7 Habits of Highly Effective People Instructor for the last 12 years and is also a certified Crucial Conversations instructor. He has professional experience in e-Learning development, Learning Management System (LMS) administration and management, and leadership development.

Learning Design and Delivery Professionals

Lori Magnuson

Lori Magnuson
(360) 407-8720

Lori began her social services career at Tacoma Goodwill Industries as a job coach, and from there she worked as an employment specialist, client advocate, and a vocational rehabilitation counselor. Lori was able to take these front-line experiences into eleven years as a training specialist with The Center for Continuing Education in Rehabilitation, an organization focused on providing education and training for rehabilitation and social services providers and people with disabilities in Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington.

Lori graduated from Seattle University with a Master's degree in Counseling, and earned her doctoral degree in Rehabilitation and Counselor Education from The University of Iowa in 2012. After Iowa, she taught in university rehabilitation and social services programs in Everett and Scranton before joining the Washington State Division of Vocational Rehabilitation as statewide secondary school transition program manager. Before joining the WLP team, Lori developed and facilitated leadership and staff development workshops at Navos, a behavioral health organization in Seattle. Her goal as a learning design and delivery professional is to help leaders inspire team members, which begins with self-awareness and authenticity. Outside of work, Lori practices as a licensed mental health counselor associate, sings in her neighborhood community chorus, and takes improv classes. She also teaches online courses for the University of Iowa, and is a Certified Rehabilitation Counselor.

Elizabeth Fontanilla

Elizabeth Fontanilla
(360) 407-8522

Elizabeth Fontanilla brings program implementation, curriculum development, and training experience in state agencies and not-for-profit organizations to the Department of Enterprise Services' Leadership Development Team. She built innovative self-sufficiency workshops for clients of the Department of Social and Health Services after undergraduate study in Psychology and Spanish at Willamette University. For Big Brothers Big Sisters of Honolulu, she developed a school-based mentoring program, including volunteer recruitment, training, and management.

With a Master of Arts in English as a Second Language from the University of Hawaii at Manoa, Elizabeth managed student enrollment and contracted teachers for the Centennial Elementary Spanish Club, while teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages through Sound Learning. For the Health Care Authority, she designed and delivered medical eligibility trainings in person and remotely, identified learning benchmarks, provided feedback on learner progress, and participated in workgroups focused on improving quality of service delivery to clients and stakeholders.

Melissa Harris

Melissa Harris
(360) 407-8785

Melissa Harris is a Learning Design and Delivery Professional for the Department of Enterprise Services, with over 17 years of professional work experience. She previously spent the last 10 years of her career working for a Department of Defense contractor in Leadership & Team Development, Human Resources, Operations Management, Change Management and Lean Six Sigma.

Melissa studied Business Management & Human Resources Management at Washington State University. She also holds certification as a Change Management Practitioner and Lean Six Sigma Green Belt. Melissa enjoys spending time watching her two active boys play soccer, and traveling the world exploring other cultures and places.

Joanne Lee

Joanne Lee
(360) 407-8524

Joanne Lee has over 20 years of experience working in various workforce development roles. She also has experience in developing, supporting, maintaining, and expanding professional technical education partnerships to meet industry needs with customized training programs. Joanne has worked with diverse adult learners, providing training and support from one-on-one consultation to large scale workshops for workforce student populations. Joanne recently served as a Director of Workforce Readiness Diversity and Inclusion at Seattle SHRM for two years, and Speaker Manager at ATD Puget Sound for one year. She currently serves as a board member committee for ESGR for the Washington State.

Joanne received her Graduate Certificate in Human Resource Management at University of Phoenix. She received her Master of Arts degree in Instructional Technology and a Bachelor of Arts in Education from California State University, San Bernardino. In addition to her passion for building and maintaining relationships with community-based organizations, business and industry, and promoting workforce education/continuing education partnerships, she is also on the Education faculty of Seattle Colleges.

Mike Kohlhorst

Mike Kohlhorst
(360) 407-9163

Mike Kohlhorst works at the Department of Enterprise Services as a Learning Design and Delivery Professional. He was directly involved in leadership development during his 21 years of military service. As an Employee Development Specialist for the Department of Licensing he brought mentoring, supervisor forums, and tuition assistance to staff. Consulting throughout the agency, he assessed specific training needs and created online and instructor-led trainings.

Mike sees professional development as key for any organization to be successful and enjoys helping others reach their full potential. As a certified Motorcycle Safety Foundation Instructor, he has extensive experience teaching basic, intermediate, and advanced learners. Mike is motivated, enthusiastic, and excited for the opportunity to contribute to the Leadership Development Team's success.

Karen Merkel

Karen Merkel
(360) 407-9395

Karen is a customer-focused learning and development expert who has extensive experience improving individual, operational, and organizational performance. She graduated from Western Washington University with a Bachelor of Arts in Education holds multiple certifications including Human Performance Improvement, Change Management, and Crucial Conversations. She believes helping individuals identify their strengths and passions is the key to developing themselves and others to achieve professional goals and elevate organizational performance.